GOP senator bucks party on Planned Parenthood funding

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Texas, talked to msnbc’s Chuck Todd this morning, and went through a series of predictable GOP talking points – right up until the end of the interview.

Hutchison complained that President Obama isn’t drilling enough; she suggested the administration somehow wants the U.S. to be more dependent on foreign oil; and she argued that the Blunt Amendment wasn’t really about restricting access to contraception. But after all of that was said, Todd asked the Republican senator about a Texas proposal to exclude Planned Parenthood from the state’s women’s health program, which in turn will lead to a loss of Medicaid funding. Take a look at Hutchison’s response.

Even this Republican senator from Texas is now willing to defend Planned Parenthood funding. Here’s the quote for those who can’t watch clips online:

“We cannot afford to lose the Medicaid funding for low-income women to have health care services. We can’t keep turning back federal funds that every state gets and then try to find money in our budget that is already being cut in key areas like education.

“I do think that the governor needs to sit down with the federal government and work it out so that we can have our share – our fair share, not more, but our share – of money for Medicaid to help low-income women have their healthcare services.

“I think Planned Parenthood does mammograms, they do so much of the health care, the preventative health care, and if they’re doing that, then we need to provide those services, absolutely.”

Given recent events, and the larger campaign that’s been labeled the “Republican war on women,” hearing a GOP senator defend Planned Parenthood funding was a pleasant surprise.